


Daily Interlude

by Vialana



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Season/Series 04
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-07
Updated: 2017-12-07
Packaged: 2019-02-11 18:26:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12941124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vialana/pseuds/Vialana
Summary: “I need a hug.”Keith paused, spoonful of goo halfway to his mouth, and stared at Pidge.





	Daily Interlude

**Author's Note:**

> This is a prompt fic taken from prompt 42 on [this list I reblogged on my Tumblr](https://ladyvialana.tumblr.com/post/167468270929/nearly-200-writing-prompts-feel-free-to-reblog)  
> Set vaguely post season 4

“I need a hug.”

Keith paused, spoonful of goo halfway to his mouth, and stared at Pidge.

He had popped into the kitchen to quell the hunger that was starting to affect his reflexes during that day’s training session. He’d missed the main rush for lunch, so the green goo was all that was on offer. Not that it mattered much: nutrition was nutrition, no matter what it tasted like. (Still, he could smell the lingering scent of Hunk’s recent attempts at bread and it was making the goo even less appealing than usual).

In a way, he was thankful to Pidge for her timely interruption. He’d been swirling his spoon through the last remnants in his bowl and debating if his light breakfast and half a bowl at lunch was enough to get him through that afternoon’s planned regime.

Still ... that was an odd request.

“Um ... okay?”

(Odd though it may be, Keith was more than okay with it despite his naturally cautious reply.)

He set his bowl down on the table and got up, opening his arms and hoping that he didn’t smell too sweaty any more. (His shirt was still stuck to his back, so, unlikely.)

“No no no.” Pidge darted forward, dodging his lumbering attempt at affection, and grabbed his shirt. “Not me. Come on.” She pulled him out of the kitchen and towards the lounge.

Keith had been around her long enough to recognise her single-minded focus when she was caught up in one of her ideas, so he went along with it. She wasn’t leading him towards the hangars or her lab or the engine room, so the likelihood of being blown up was pretty slim. As far as Pidge’s usual unexpected flashes of inspirations went, this one seemed mild.

Lance was the only one in the lounge when they arrived. He was sprawled over the back lounge, shoes discarded in the middle of the room, shirt rucked up halfway to his chest, limbs everywhere. His leg was thrown over the back of the couch; how was that even comfortable? He didn’t look over at them when the door slid open. His eyes were closed and he was listening to something with Pidge’s borrowed headphones. 

She’d probably given up on ever getting them back and already invented something better for herself that interacted with Altean tech. Though, Keith was pretty sure she’d hold the theft against Lance for ages. Hell, she’d probably still be harping on about it when they were old and stuck in the same nursing home together and he and Hunk would be stuck listening to her rant again, mouthing along with every word while Lance ignored her.

(Keith liked to imagine that they all lived through this and grew old together. It might not have been realistic but it was one of the few happy thoughts he refused to give up.)

Pidge leaned over the back of the lounge and yanked the headphones off Lance’s head. He yelped and jumped up into a ready battle stance. Keith was actually kind of impressed by the reaction time.

“Pidge, what the hell?!”

“I need you both for an experiment.” She pulled some kind of scanner from the voluminous pocket of her baggy shirt.

Keith and Lance glanced at each other and shrugged. It was probably easier to just do it and get it over with than try to get an explanation or get caught up in further tests. This wasn’t the first time either of them had been roped into one of Pidge’s experiments. At least nothing was on fire. (Yet.)

“Okay, both of you stand in the middle of the room, close together.”

Lance sighed dramatically but did as he was told. Keith didn’t sigh dramatically and walked stoically to stand next to Lance and crossed his arms over his chest.

“Good.” Pidge barely glanced at them, focused on her scanner. “Now hug.”

“What?”

Keith winced as Lance yelled right by his already tender ear. He slapped at Lance’s chest with the back of his hand almost automatically. Lance turned his outraged scowl on him instead.

Keith attempted to diffuse the sudden loud tension. “Let’s just get this over with.”

“Seriously?”

Keith shrugged. “It’s better than that time she almost set us on fire.”

Lance couldn’t exactly disagree (he still brought that up every time Pidge tried to get him into the labs --- maybe that’s what he’d constantly be harping about to her in the nursing home later in life). Instead of directly arguing, he eyed Keith up and down and pulled a sour face. “When was your last shower exactly?”

Keith was the one to scowl this time. “Oh, like you’re a bed of roses either?”

(Lance wasn’t quite floral smelling but he was far less grimy than Keith, even with his clothes still rumpled from his nap and a stain from the remnants of lunch dribbled over the front of his shirt. Keith did not let himself linger on the exposed strip of stomach where Lance’s shirt had risen up no matter how inviting it looked.)

Lance rolled his eyes. “Whatever. Let’s just do this.” He closed his eyes, scrunching up his face as though anticipating something unpleasant, and opened his arms.

Keith slid into the embrace before he could second guess himself.

Lance flinched away from his damp shirt but relaxed when Keith didn’t do anything more than wrap his arms around Lance’s back and hook his chin on Lance’s shoulder. It wasn’t exactly comfortable, given the circumstances, but it was nice to be close to someone.

Keith felt Lance’s arms come up to rest against his shoulder blades. His thumbs absently stroked over the protrusions. Keith tried not to shiver at the sensation.

They stayed like that, locked in each others arms, for a few moments while Pidge circled them and waved her scanner about.

Keith shouldn’t have expected the peace to last long though.

“Why are you so damp anyway?”

Keith scowled, not that Lance could see it. “I was training.”

“You’re drenched. I didn’t even know humans  _could_ sweat this much. And Galra have like fur, so there’s no way it’s that part of your genetics. How long were you training for to get this bad?”

“Well, if you actually did any training yourself you might find out it’s not just a walk in the park.”

Rather than retorting, Lance laughed. The motion jostled both of them, vibrating between them. Keith could almost feel it under his own ribs.

“Wait, didn’t Coran have to reprogram the time limit alarm and lock when you came back?”

Keith scowled again, shoulders hunching. His ears were still ringing from that stupid alarm and he’d almost got his fingers caught in the door when he had to rush out before it locked. He didn’t tell Lance this, obviously, but Lance had been present a few times before when he’d been kicked out by the program and was probably recalling those memories with fondness.

Lance kept laughing. “Only you, Keith.” His thumbs paused in their stroking, hands going still against Keith’s back. “You know, I really did miss making fun of you while you were gone.”

Keith took a quick breath, trying not to let sentimentality get the better of him. “Well, I certainly didn’t miss your uninspired attempts at insults.”

Despite his words, Keith squeezed his arms a little tighter around Lance’s back. So much for attempting aloofness.

Lance cleared his throat, sounding a little uncomfortable. Keith didn’t know for sure, but he had a strong suspicion Lance was blushing.

Lance gave a quick squeeze in return before shifting his head around to ask Pidge, “Hey, what did you say this experiment was for again?”

Pidge didn’t look up from her scanner as she said. “I didn’t. Hunk and I just had a bet to see how long I could get you two to do this.”

“ _What?!_ ”

Keith stumbled as Lance ripped himself from the embrace and chased Pidge out of the room and into the hallway. Lance slid rather than ran, since he was still only wearing socks, and almost slipped and caught his shoulder on the door frame. He was lucky not to crash head first into the wall. Pidge’s cackling laughter and Lance’s furious swearing echoed back through the doorway before it closed.

Keith shivered once he was alone in the room. He didn’t want to admit he missed Lance’s warm presence, but it really had been kind of nice to relax like that for a time.

Way better than food goo at least.

(Better than most things, if he was being completely honest with himself.)

Still, hopefully Coran’s time lock on the training room would have reset by the time Keith got back there. Before he’d left with the Blade it had been set for a varga during the day and six during the sleep cycle so he should only have a few more dobashes to wait.

Keith picked up Pidge’s headphones from the floor and left them on the couch where Lance had been lying and nudged Lance’s shoes over to the floor nearby before leaving the room to go back to training.

(Maybe next time he’ll ask if Lance wants to join him.)

**Author's Note:**

> you can find me on Tumblr: [ladyvialana](https://ladyvialana.tumblr.com/)


End file.
